


Impacting Collision

by Eien_Cham



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Awkward Peri, F/F, Happy Lapidot, Happy Lappy, I'm Really Stuck On The Caring Aspect Of Peridot, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2018-11-17 02:17:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11265882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eien_Cham/pseuds/Eien_Cham
Summary: Lapis is a member of the hottest band, "The Crystal Gems," who found herself in a mosh pit. Peridot is a BME coming home from a bad day. A rock-star on the run and a geek who lives under a rock meet in a minor car collision. That should've been the end of their relationship.





	1. Fated

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, starting yet another story!
> 
> I typed this up on my phone so there may be a few errors (with auto-correct and all). Please let me know of any errors!
> 
> Thanks for reading! --([eien-cham](http://eien-cham.tumblr.com))

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When worlds collide.

"Crystal Gems! Crystal Gems!" The entire stadium shook as the many fans chanted their band name.

Lapis Lazuli, the band's lead guitarist and support vocalist, grinned at her fellow members. "Do you hear that?!"

Despite the fact that they had just finished their performance and were panting for breath, they did not want to disappoint the fans. The members quickly wiped their faces with their towels and chugged the bottles of water before they grabbed their respective instruments and walked back on stage.

Steven, the band's bassist, returned her grin as he fastened the strap of his bass. "Never gets old!"

"I knew I should've left this thing on stage!" Pearl, one of the main vocalist and keyboardist, huffed as she lugged the keyboard towards the stage.

Garnet, lead singer and second guitarist, chuckled and patted Pearl on the back. "It was to be expected."

Pearl replied with a grunt as she forced herself to stand straight.

"Let's give them what they asked for!" Amethyst, the band's drummer, pumped her fists in the air, drumsticks in grip.

Soon, they reached the part where they were no longer hidden by the curtains and stepped on the official stage. As soon as they were in sight, the fans erupted in cheers.

The roar of the crowd nearly deafened Lapis' ears, and she couldn't help but to cover them. Amethyst began to gesture the crowd to cheer louder than they already were as she made her way behind the drum set. The fans were happy to oblige.

Despite her ears starting to ring, Lapis laughed. The shouts were so loud that she could feel it in her body. It felt like her heart was about to burst just from the volume.

She walked to her respective area on stage and plugged her guitar to the amplifiers. She saw Steven, Pearl, and Garnet do the same to their instruments. The feedback alerted the crowd that they were about to start. Garnet grabbed the microphone and brought it to her mouth.

One last spurt of cheers, the crowd eventually hushed as they waited to hear what Garnet had to say.

"Thank you, Empire City, for such a wonderful night!"

The crowd burst into cheers.

"Unfortunately, our night together has come to an end."

The crowd booed.

Garnet laughed and held her hands up. "I know, I know! But we still have one more concert here in two days and hope that we see you all again. To those who won't be able to join us, we hope, no, we'll definitely be coming back here again one day!"

The crowd exploded into another fit of cheers. A few loud, "I love you"s could be heard from the crowd.

Garner waited until the crowd calmed down before resuming her speech. "This is a big thank you to all the fans. Because of your undying support and love, we have finally reached the top and became the number one selling band! We owe all this success to you."

With that, the members shared looks with each other, their faces starting to hurt from smiling for so long. They all nodded and looked at Garnet to start them off.

"Now, without further ado: We—," Garnet smirked as the crowd repeated after her. "—are the Crystal Gems!"

With that, all the band members played the final song with the same energy they had at the beginning of the concert. Fatigue was no longer felt in their body.

Lapis felt like she was on top of the world.

* * *

After the show, she and Amethyst went to the back of the stadium where they knew many fans were waiting for them. They ignored Pearl's admonishing about taking some time to pack up and not going for the sake of their safety and met with the fans.

It started out as any normal fan meeting, both of them signing things the fans thrust their way and taking selfies with them.

Maybe it was due to the lack of security or because everyone was pretty amped from the concert and is having a chance to see two of the band members in person, but the fans suddenly began pushing against them. It abruptly turned into an aggressive attempt to grab at them.

Lapis felt like she was going to be torn apart in many directions.

Amethyst was lucky that she was short enough to sneak past the growing mosh pit. Lapis could see her fellow band mate escape back through the back door they had exited from when Steven had opened it.

She supposed that he was there because he was ready to join them, but from his sudden change in expression, he knew it was trouble.

Lapis called out to him for help but the door shut.

Many fans ran to the door, but fortunately there was no handle on the outside portion of the door.

Unfortunately for Lapis, that meant there was no way for her to escape.

She managed to get out of her jacket that was constraining her and crouched down on the floor.

She crawled through their legs, praying that she doesn't get trampled, and made a break for it the moment she got out from the crowd.

She didn't look back and pumped her legs to run as fast as she could. She hoped the years she spent away from track did not detriment her.

Lapis heard someone shout, "She's not here!"

It was only a matter of time before she heard the dreaded, "Look! There she is!"

She groaned and pressed on, doing her best to keep the distance between her and the crowd that will likely maul her once they caught her.

Lapis couldn't believe her luck as she sprinted across the city trying to outrun the screaming fans following after her.

After running a great distance and turning here and there, Lapis looked behind her and smirked, pumping her fist in the air when she saw no trace of the fans behind her.

Suddenly, the wind was knocked out from her.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground as a loud screech pierced her ears.

* * *

Peridot sighed as she waited for the light to turn green.

Today had been a long day at work. The project was taking longer than expected, and it didn't help that the cyber server crashed because of a leaky pipe.

She muttered at the idiot who thought it was a good idea to place the mainframe in the basement where, judging from the area they lived in, the risk of being destroyed by a flood was high.

All that hard work in programming was gone in a flash.

All because of a few drops of water falling directly on the crucial core of the mainframe.

Distraught, the boss told everyone to just go home and cool their heads, hoping the system automatically backed itself up and not a lot of the script had been lost.

Peridot sighed once more as she gripped her steering wheel. This has got to be the longest stoplight she'd ever encountered. There were no other cars on the intersecting lane nor behind her.

The red light was so long that she put her car in park as she waited for it to turn green.

She honestly could've just ran the red light but she took notice of the camera positioned on the pole at the corner of the road.

A violation ticket was the last thing she needed in her life.

After what felt like an hour, the lights finally turned green. She stepped on her brakes and put the car on drive, allowing it to slowly roll forward.

She was about to step her foot on the gas to increase the speed, when suddenly, " _Bam!_ "

Somebody collided with her car and fell down.

Peridot screamed as she stomped her foot on the brakes; her car screeched as she quickly put the car on park.

Her heart pounded as she unlocked the car and proceeded to struggle to unfasten her seat-belt.

"Holy smokes! Holy smokes!" She muttered over and over again as she fumbled with the seat-belt buckle.

_What was that person thinking?!_

_Couldn't they have seen that the light was green?!_

_Oh, stars!_

Peridot gulped and looked at the stop light. It was red.

Goosebumps ran along her entire body. She looked at the camera on the pole.

The seat-belt finally unbuckled.

_The light was green, right?!_

She could've sworn it had turned green!

Remembering the person, Peridot quickly opened her door and stepped out and ran to the front of her car, praying that the collision wasn't serious and the person wasn't injured.

Peridot held her breath as she slowly stepped and revealed the area in front of her car.

Much to her surprise, nobody was there.

The sound of a car door slamming shut made Peridot's blood run cold.

She looked back at her car and saw that the driver's side door was still open. There was nobody on the passenger seat.

She tentatively walked to her car, readying a fist to defend herself with.

Peridot didn't know what she was going to do, but she was running on fear and adrenaline at this point.

She yanked open the back door on the driver's side and screamed when she saw a person curled on the floor of the car.

The other person was startled and screamed along with her. They stopped screaming and quickly shushed her, motioning her to close the door.

"Wh-what?! No!" Peridot's voice trembled as she brought her fists close to her chest. "Wh-who are you and wh-what are you doing in my car? And don't try to do anything funny! I k-know karate!"

"Be quiet! Act like I'm not here!" The person hissed, positioning themselves to get on their knees and peek from behind the driver's seat. "Can you close the door and get in the car? I'm trying to run away from people."

Peridot stood there, dumbfounded at the fact that this person was ordering her around. A thought came to mind and she stuttered a response. "I-I'm going to call the police!"

"What?!" The person quickly got out of the car. "No! Please! Anything but that!"

Peridot jumped back, surprised at their sudden movement, and defensively took a swing. Her fist collided with nothing.

"Whoa!" The person dodged her punch by leaning back and grabbed a hold of her hand. "Calm down, karate kid!"

Peridot grunted as she tried to pull her hand away from the person's grip, but with no avail. "Let go of me!"

The other person sighed and let go of her hand. "Look, I'm sorry for the crazy things that just happened, but I really need you to help me out here. I'm trying to hide from a group of people who are probably going to crush me to death. They're starting to get really close, and I need to get away. Can you help me?"

Peridot frowned and rubbed her hand that was in the other person's grip.

She looked at the person in front of her. It was a blue-haired woman, a good head taller than she was. She looked lanky, but from her grip, Peridot could tell she was quite strong to just be skinny. She had tan skin and Peridot could spot freckles on her face. There was urgency in her dark blue eyes.

Peridot couldn't ignore that unspoken cry for help. She didn't like the sound of the fact that this person claimed to be running from a "death" situation but Peridot didn't want to be the reason why they die.

At last, she sighed. Now that the adrenaline was going away, she was starting to feel very tired. "I don't even know who you are."

The woman looked shocked at Peridot's statement. Her brows wrinkled together as if she didn't believe that Peridot didn't know who she was.

Finally, the woman nodded.

"Lapis Lazuli." The woman said. "Now you know."

Before Peridot could respond with a, "Nice to meet you," the woman quickly got back inside the car.

After a few seconds of staring at the person through her car window dumbfounded, Peridot also went inside the car and put her seat belt on, putting the car on drive as she kept her foot pressed on the brakes.

The light turned green and Peridot stepped on the gas. The car lurched forward and sped ahead. She did not want to be stuck at that intersection any more.

After about a mile away, Peridot gave a low whistle when she saw a huge crowd run across the intersection from her rear-view mirror. "Oh, wow. You weren't kidding."

"About what?" Lapis asked, following her gaze and looked back to see the people running. "Oh, never mind."

Now that Peridot was stuck at a red light, again, she turned to look back at the other woman. She saw Lapis sitting on the middle backseat with her knees up to her chest.

Peridot was about to ask her where she should drop her off when she saw the stain on the bottom of her pants.

"Oh, my stars!" Peridot paled. "You're bleeding!"

Lapis looked at her pants and saw the stain.

She carefully rolled her pant leg up to reveal the blood slowly streaming down from a nasty cut that ran halfway down her shin starting from just underneath her knee cap.

"Oh. Gee. Would you look at that?" Lapis gave a giggle as she inspected her leg. "I'm bleeding."

Peridot was horrified at how calm the woman was.

She was about to comment when suddenly the blue-haired woman closed her eyes and went limp in the backseat of her car.


	2. Banter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I can't believe the response this one got!
> 
> I'm sorry for such a late update. (One month later, wow). Life decided to gift me things sour. (This is explained in [365 Days](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11535174/chapters/25897470)).  
> I made sure to type up something long. Hope that makes up for it!
> 
> Anyways, as always, thanks for reading! --([eien-cham](http://eien-cham.tumblr.com))

Lapis groaned as she slowly opened her eyes. Her whole body ached, especially her legs and the right side of her body. She sat up and blinked a couple of times, getting accustomed to the brightness of the day.

"Steven, what time is it?"

When she got no response, Lapis tried again. "C’mon, Stevo, I know you're here."

"Oh, good!" She heard a voice more feminine sounding than how her roommate sounded. "You're up! And it's seven thirty."

Lapis felt her whole body tense and winced at the pain it brought. Flashes of last night’s events started to come back to her. She remembered the concert and the fan meeting at the back. She remembered suddenly having to run and being chased by fans.

She remembered getting hit by a car.

There was a sound of curtains being drawn followed by an, "Are you okay?"

The same voice brought Lapis back to reality.

She turned to the side and saw the woman whose car she had run into standing a few feet from her. Lapis eyed the woman. She was hyped on adrenaline yesterday and didn’t have a chance to get a good look at her. She was short, probably a good foot and a half shorter than her. Her blonde hair was a fluffy bob with strands sticking out to the side. The hairs on the top of her head was in a small and messy top-bun. Lapis noticed freckles splotched her face. The ones congregated on her forehead seemed to have been shaped in a triangle. Atop her pointed button nose were large, round, green-framed glasses.

The woman was pretty cute.

There was sense of familiarity to her that Lapis couldn’t quite place.

As if sensing Lapis was studying her, the woman shifted in her spot.

"H-how'd you sleep?" She asked, wiping her hands on the apron she had on, a blush slowly coloring her cheeks.

Lapis could tell she making her nervous so she spared her from being under her hard stare and looked down at her own feet sticking out from under the covers.

"Good.” Lapis croaked, not realizing how dry her throat was. She instinctively placed her hand on her throat. “Where am I?"

"Oh, yes! Water!"

The woman quickly walked away, across the room from what Lapis could see, and came back after a few minutes to Lapis with a glass of water. Lapis thankfully took the glass from her and drank the whole glass without hesitation.

After finishing it, she gave a satisfied sound and handed the glass back to her. "Thanks."

The woman nodded and walked back across the room before returning back empty handed.

"I'm sorry, I just realized I didn't answer your question. Lapis, was it?"

Lapis nodded.

"Well, after you fainted, I brought you back to my place. I didn't take you to a hospital because I figured that if you were running away, you probably did not want to get caught." The woman gave a nervous chuckle and began to speak more rapidly.

"I cleaned and patched you up as soon as I got home." She raised hands up defensively. "I have my CNA certification so you don't have to worry about anything! A-also, I hope that you don't mind but I h-had to lift your sh-shirt up to look for any other injuries. There was nothing serious, just a graze. I hope you don't mind that I cleaned that up as well. A bruise started to form from the time that you ran into my car."

Lapis shook her head and was ready to respond but the woman continued.

"Sorry for hitting you with my car by the way. I'm also sorry for the other bruises I probably gave you. I live alone so I had nobody to help me carry you here. I, uh, may or not have bumped you into a lot of things on the way to my door."

She turned her gaze to the floor and started to pick at her apron. “You're a lot heavier than I thought you were, but then again I’m not strong. Thinking about it now, I should've called for help, but that would mean someone would know about you, and you were running from people so you probably wanted the number of people involved to be small, and—!"

"Whoa, whoa, slow down!" Lapis couldn't help but laugh a bit, a snort interrupting it. She barely understood what the woman was saying. "You don't have to apologize. I'm the one who's sorry for running into your car."

"I saw the multitude of people running past the intersection yesterday." The woman raised a brow, amusement as her expression. "What did you do to them?"

"I'm in a—," Lapis stopped.

She remembered this person had no idea who she was. It was probably best not to disclose the fact that she was a celebrity of some sorts. The woman might call somebody and Lapis would have a hard time finding her way back to the hotel.

Lapis immediately regretted having that thought considering the fact that the woman was very hospitable and caring for a stranger in trouble. "Nothing. They mistook me for someone."

"I see." Lapis could tell that the woman didn't believe her but Lapis appreciated her choice to not be privy. "Well, there's breakfast on the table if you're hungry. You woke up just in time for me to set it up. Sorry, I only have oatmeal and sausages. I forgot to go get groceries for this week."

Just then, Lapis' stomach growled. She didn't realize how hungry she was. "You didn't have to do that. Thank you so much!"

The woman nodded and began to walk away but Lapis called out to her. "Hey, I never got your name."

She turned and gave Lapis a smile.

"It's Peridot Bixby. Nice to meet you."

* * *

Lapis practically gobbled up the food that was before her. She never knew oatmeal and sausage would taste this delicious. Lapis nearly shed a tear of joy.

They didn't say much as they ate their breakfast but Lapis could see how pleased Peridot was at the sight of her guest basically inhaling the food.

Now finished eating, she reclined in her seat and let the food settle in her stomach, Lapis let her eyes wander around the place.

It was a decently sized one-room apartment. There was an extension that divided the "bedroom" area from the rest of the space. The entrance was covered with a black curtain that had a green alien head as its repeated pattern rather than a door.

From what she recalled, the bedroom consisted of a full size mattress placed at the corner of the room. A desk with a computer and a few stationaries were to the left of the mattress. A few feet from the foot of the bed stood a huge dresser cabinet and drawer unit.

The dining table was near the door. To her right was the kitchen area. It was the standard kitchen with two deep sinks, a dishwasher, a stove top oven, and a basic refrigerator. There was kitchen island that was only a counter-top and some cabinets down below.

There was a door right next to the farthest kitchen counter that led to the bathroom.

The "living room" area was a feet in front of the kitchen island. There was a love seat couch that was a bit messy. The back cushions were rearranged and a blanket was crumpled up on one side. There was a small coffee table in between the couch and a wide bookshelf that also served as a stand for the standard sized television, a large curtained window behind it.

The whole place had such a homey feel to it and it made perfect sense that the owner of the place was so cordial.

Just eating breakfast with her had such a domestic feel to it that Lapis was surprised she found herself liking the fact that she had a sense of having a place to call "home."

She felt really relaxed.

It was strange and surprising how Lapis was quick to be comfortable with Peridot because she was one who always had her guard up, especially when it had nothing to do with things pertaining to band stuff. Even so, it took her a while to warm up with her band mates and they were some of the kindest and thoughtful – in their own way – people she’s ever met.

Maybe because Peridot seems to be harmless and there was no reason for Lapis to put her guard up.

Once she scaled the whole place, Lapis returned her attention to the other woman who had just finished her breakfast.

"You didn't have to sleep on the couch, you know."

Peridot blinked at her a couple of times before she smiled. "I know.”

Lapis felt her face go hot at her smile.

“But I wasn't comfortable making you sleep on it, and I doubt you would've liked to wake up next to a stranger.” Peridot continued. “You were already in a strange place. I didn't want to make it any weirder for you.”

Lapis felt her heart squeeze at that statement. She found it cute how thoughtful and caring this person in front of her was.

Cute.

That's the word that would sum her up.

Peridot was seriously cute.

Was Lapis just realizing this now that she had calmed down a whole lot?

"Geez." Lapis mumbled, looking away to try and hide the blush that was on her face. "What are you? An angel?"

"Pfft." Peridot scoffed. "What are you talking about? I'm a perfectly normal person."

"Nah." Lapis disagreed. "Normal people would've left me on the street. Or at least let me crash on their couch."

Peridot frowned. "I'm not sure that's what normal should be."

"I agree." Lapis grinned. "I guess that just makes you somebody pretty special."

Not knowing how to respond, Peridot simply stared at her with her mouth agape.

Lapis found herself compelled to tease her.

She gave a playful wink and her amusement grew at the red that suddenly shaded Peridot’s face.

Holding her laughter, Lapis pushed her chair back and stood up. She began to gather the dirty dishes and brought them to the sink.

Realizing what she was going to do, Peridot stopped blushing and got out of her own chair and quickly followed her to the sink.

"You don't have to that. I can do it."

Lapis shook her head and turned on the faucet. "Thanks but I can't have you do everything for me. Besides, washing the dishes is a very therapeutic thing for me."

* * *

Peridot had hesitated before agreeing to let her wash the dishes. She saw how determined Lapis was to do them and decided to go fix the couch and her bed while Lapis did her thing.

When she came back out to the common area, she saw Lapis bent over placing the clean dishes into the inside compartments of the dishwasher.

"How'd you know I used the dishwasher as a drying rack?" Peridot sudden appearance startled Lapis causing her to jump a bit, almost losing her grip on one of the plates. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"No it's okay." Lapis continued placing the washed dishes in the dishwasher before closing it. "And because you seemed like the person who would do that."

Lapis wiped her hands dry with a paper towel before discarding it into the trashcan propped by the kitchen island. Her eye caught sight of the television. She didn't want to turn it on because the news of her disappearance would probably pop up if she channel surfed.

Lapis didn't want to be exposed to being s ok nobody famous, considering Peridot obviously was in the dark about her identity.

Or at least she was really good at treating her as a normal person.

An act that really touched Lapis' heart.

It has been a while since she had been treated like an average person.

"I should let people know I'm safe." She reached into her pant pockets but came up empty.

It took a while before it registered to her where she had put it.

"Ah, crap."

Peridot looked at her with worry in her eyes because of the sudden statement. "What is it?"

Lapis sighed and shook her head.

"I left my phone in my jacket yesterday and that got snatched away from me."

Great.

Another thing to replace once she gets back.

"You can use mine." Peridot offered.

"No it's okay." Lapis stopped her from walking to where her phone was. "I can go out and see if there's a nearby payphone."

Peridot raised a brow, a knowing look in her face.

"Do you have your wallet with you?"

Lapis merely stared back at her.

Her face went hot as she sheepishly ruffled the back of her head.

"On second thought, can I borrow your phone?"

Peridot chuckled as walked over to the bookshelf where her phone was attached to a charger.

She unplugged it and handed it to Lapis when she came back. "Make the call in the bathroom. The reception in this place sucks."

* * *

Lapis entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She put the toilet seat cover down and sat down, dialing the only number she knew by memory.

"Come on, come on." She muttered as she placed the phone to her ear. “Pick up.”

It rang a few times before the call connected.

"Hello?” Pearl sounded really irritated on the other line. “Who is this and how did you get this number?"

Lapis inwardly groaned knowing that the keyboardist's mood would only sour. "It's Lapis. I lost my phone and wallet while I was making a run for it last night."

"Lapis! Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you? Not to mention the tabloids going crazy about you disappearing off into the night!" Lapis had to hold the phone away from her ears as Pearl's volume slowly increased. "We spent the whole night looking around the entire city. We just got back to the RV and were getting ready to agree with the police going on a hunt for you!"

"Good thing I called in time then." Lapis was relieved. She didn't want to repay Peridot’s kindness with cops bursting into her apartment and possibly handcuffing her for something she didn’t do.

"Seriously, this is why I told you guys not go out in the first place." Pearl continued to gripe.

"Yeah, yeah. You were right, I was wrong. Like always." Lapis nonchalantly said. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever." Pearl scoffed. "Where are you anyway?"

"I just finished eating breakfast." Lapis drawled.

"I didn't ask what you were doing." She could practically see Pearl roll her eyes from her tone. "I asked where you were."

Lapis grinned. "I'm at the apartment of this phone's owner. I'll have her text you the address later."

Pearl paused. "Who is she? A fan?"

Lapis thought for a while. "Nah. I don't think she knows who I am."

"Are you sure about that? Maybe she's faking it."

Pearl was leery as ever.

"I doubt that." Lapis ran a hand through her hair. "Anyway, can you see if you can get something together as a 'thank you?' She's done a lot for me."

"Oh my stars!" Pearl gasped and whispered her next sentence. "You didn't sleep with her, did you?"

"No!" Lapis replied much too loudly. She cleared her throat. "Why was that the first thing you thought? I swear she's not a groupie. In fact she’s not even a fan, honest. I told her my name and she didn't even react."

"How's that even possible?" Pearl scoffed. "Not to toot our own horns but I'm pretty sure that's impossible."

"Guess we haven't made it yet," Lapis joked.

She heard Pearl sigh. "Fine. I'll see if Greg can get something together last minute. He's probably going to throw some merch in. Then she'll know who we are. One less person to reach out to, I guess."

Lapis chuckled. "Great. Thanks. You're the best."

"Obviously." Pearl automatically answered.

"Cheep. Cheep." Lapis said before hanging up, knowing Pearl probably squawked and started going on a rant on how she was not a bird.

She looked down at the phone and saved the number under, "Birb Porl."

* * *

Lapis stepped out of the bathroom and found Peridot on a fixed couch reading a book. The couch was a bit smaller than it looked and Lapis felt really bad that Peridot slept on it last night. She walked over and sat on the other side of the couch and gave Peridot her phone back. "I told her that you'll text her the address."

Peridot closed the book and put it down on the coffee table. She viewed through her phone and found the new contact. She held her laughter at the contact name and began to type a text to the owner of the number.

Lapis looked to see what she was reading in the meantime. It was something about robotics.

"Is that a romance novel about some scientist and their robot?" Lapis leaned back and stretched her arm to span most of the length of the couch.

"Huh? What?" Peridot followed Lapis' gesture to the book on the coffee table. "Oh! Ha, ha, no. That's just a book about programming. I'm reading up to see if I can come up with something that can salvage lost data."

"Sou~nds," Lapis stretched the word as tried to think of a word to describe what she was just told, "very interesting?"

Peridot's phone made a sound before she could comment on Lapis' questioning tone.

She looked at the screen and read the message. "They said they'll be here in ten minutes."

"Well," Lapis lifted her arm and cupped her elbow in an effort to stretch out her back. "While we're waiting for my ride, why don't I help you with things you have to do?"

"It's okay. You've been more than helpful." Peridot shook her head and crossed her arms. "There's nothing left to do but go to my job anyway, but my boss called in and said we can have a late start because of yesterday's fiasco with plumbing."

"Then," Lapis tapped her chin in thought, "how about we sit and watch some T.V.?"

"I, uh,” Peridot gave a small laugh and gave an apologetic look, "don't have cable, and the only DVDs I have are of this Canadian teen drama. I would put that on but I apparently get riled up and I don’t think going to work with high tension would be a good idea."

"Wow, okay." Lapis chuckled. “Then, let's talk?"

“About what?”

“Anything. Let's get to know each other.”

Peridot titled her head. “How?”

That new angle of Peridot all the more made Lapis realize how cute she was.

Lapis bit her bottom lip and looked to the side. “H-how about we take turns asking questions? Our questions shouldn't be the same though. Sound good?”

“Sounds good. And that counts as yours.” Lapis was about to protest but she was cut off by a smiling Peridot, mischief in twinkling in her eyes. “My turn. Why were you running yesterday?”

_Ah, of course she would ask that._

“I was being chased by a mob.” Lapis snorted when she saw the disappointment in Peridot's face.

“I already knew you were being chased by people. I saw them.”

“You didn’t ask for a reason.” Lapis winked.

“I thought it was implied in the ‘why.’” Peridot pouted.

Lapis chuckled and asked a question before Peridot could press on. “What do you do for a living?”

Peridot was still pouting but she answered. “I'm a Bio-Med engineer currently working on robotic prosthesis. How old are you?”

“Sounds fitting.” Lapis nodded. “And I'm 23. What do you like to do?”

“Oh. We're around the same age.” Peridot shifted in her seat and grabbed a pillow cushion to hug. “And I like to make things. Usually I tinker around, bake things, or garden. Where do you live?”

“Oh? How old are you?” Lapis found herself leaning closer towards the other woman. “And I'm actually from across the country.”

“You just asked the same question.” Peridot briskly said. “And no fair. Your answers are pretty vague.”

Lapis laughed. “Fine. My parents live in Alaska. I haven't been home in a long time though since I've been traveling a lot for my ban—.”

Lapis caught herself in time and faked a cough. “Sorry about that. I think my throat’s dry.”

“Do you want some water?”

Peridot was already getting up but Lapis stopped her by lightly grabbing hold of her arm.

“No, it’s okay.” Lapis gave a nervous laugh. “Let’s continue. I was going to say I travel a lot for my, uh, job, but I share an apartment in Oceanside. Why do you live alone?”

“You’re pretty far from where you live.” Peridot seemed to be satisfied with her answer and nodded. “I live alone because it's a one room apartment. I used to live with a friend but I moved to cut my commute time to work.”

Peridot seemed hesitant to ask her next question.

Lapis was ready to reassure her but it seemed Peridot mustered the courage.

“What's your relationship with ‘Birb Porl?’ Why was she the first person you thought to contact?”

Lapis broke into a mixture of snorts and laughter. “Perfect! And she and I work together. We've known each other pretty much our whole lives. I can always rely on her.”

There was something in Peridot’s expression that caught Lapis’ attention.

It seemed like it was hurt mixed with a surprised confusion.

Before Lapis could discern what it was, it was gone.

“I asked you two questions so it’s only fair you get to do the same for this round.” Peridot began to pick at the pillow on her lap.

Lapis took a moment to think of questions.

She looked at Peridot and caught her eye.

There was something that has been bothering her ever since they first talked that morning.

Lapis asked her first question, making sure to keep the eye contact. “Are you sure you don’t know who I am?”

Peridot scrunched her brows together in confusion. “Why? Have we met before?”

The reaction was genuine and affirmed that Peridot really had no clue that she was part of one of the current popular bands.

“I don’t think so.” Lapis shook her head. “But I find it easy to interact with you, which, honestly, is actually pretty hard for me to do, especially in a personal setting, much less to a stranger.”

Peridot blinked a couple of times before she smiled. “Wow. I thought I was the only one thinking that.”

They barely knew each other and yet they shared the same thought.

“Like I said, you’re pretty special.”

Peridot’s face colored as she brought her knees up. “No, I’m not.”

Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, Lapis patted her shoulder and simply started the chat again. “You answered my question with two more questions so that means I have three more questions to ask you.”

Peridot paused before she grinned and faced her. “I did?”

Lapis smirked, knowing that she did that on purpose.

Peridot opened her mouth to say something more but a knock on the door interrupted her.


	3. Compeer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WE-!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With school officially starting, I have no idea when the next update will be... but updates have always been spaced out... Heh.

Peridot quickly got up from the couch and walked to the door.

Lapis decided to stay seated on the couch, fearing that the first thing her bandmates would probably do is tackle her to the ground as soon as they've set their sights on her.

Peridot kept the dead bolt in place and opened the door ajar. From the crack she could see four people standing: three females and one male.

The male was a chubby, young looking school age boy. His hands were tucked inside the pockets of his pink hoodie. He had dark curly hair that bunched together to make it look like it was trying to take the shape of a flower. His dark brown eyes crinkled underneath his bushy brow. A surgical mask covered his mouth area.

Next to him was a woman near his height. Her skin was brown, her wild purple hair was in a ponytail. Bangs covered her left eye. Glasses framed her dark eyes. Peridot could swear there was a tint of purple in them. Her lips were puckered as she blew a bubble gum. She sported a tank top and ripped jeans.

Behind them were two taller women. The shorter of the two had a long pointy nose. Her strawberry blonde, over-grown pixie cut wisped on her forehead. She had a leather jacket, a simple tee, and Capri jeans. Her electric blue eyes were emphasized by the black cloth mask she wore to cover her mouth.

The tallest woman looked of African descent. Her afro sculpted into a perfect cube. She had sunglasses on, hiding her eyes behind them. She had a jean jacket that had its arms ripped out to make it look like a vest, black sports bra, and high-waist mom jeans.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello. My name is Pearl. I believe we interacted with each other through text a few minutes ago." The one with the long nose stepped up to the front and removed the mask to reveal a small smile. "We're here to retrieve Lapis Lazuli."

"Okay. Hang on a sec." Peridot closed the door and removed the deadbolt before opening it again, wider this time. "Sorry about that."

She stepped to the side and gestured for them to step inside her apartment. "Come in."

The four shared a look amongst themselves as if not knowing whether to go in or not.

Curious as to why there was a sudden silence, Lapis stood up from the couch and walked over to the door. Lapis saw her fellow bandmates awkwardly staying outside and cleared her throat to get their attention.

Once the four saw Lapis, they entered the apartment.

Pearl glared at Lapis before offering Peridot a coy smile. "Sorry to intrude, uhm?"  

It took her a second to realize that she was being asked for her name. "Oh, um, Peridot."

"Peridot." Pearl nodded and continued. "For your troubles, we're giving you this gift basket as a form of our gratitude towards you for taking care of one our own. Garnet?"

Pearl stepped to the side and revealed a basket overflowing with various items in the arms of the tallest one amongst them.

"We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience our friend here caused you." The sunglasses of the woman now known as Garnet seemed to have twinkled. 

Lapis narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms, muttering obscene things about them that no one could hear.

Garnet handed the gift basket over and Peridot didn't know what else to do but accept it. "Wow. Thanks."

She looked down and saw items that seemed out of place for a gift basket that was supposed to show gratitude. 

There were a number of autographed CD cases, rolled up posters and T-shirts, a set of five plastic cups, and a small plastic flagpole with an index card sized cloth flag of a group of people and the words, 'The Crystal Gems' behind them in a unique font. Strange things to have in a gift basket.

"The Crystal Gems?"

Those set of words were strangely familiar.

"Hi! I'm Steven!" The only male in the group cheerily stretched his hand for Peridot to shake. "And we are the Crystal Gems!"

The shortest female from the group introduced herself by clicking her tongue and forming finger guns and shooting them towards her.

When Peridot gave no reaction other than a blank stare, Steven audibly gasped, placing his hands on his chubby cheeks dramatically. "You don't know who we are?"

"What?" The short female crossed her arms. "Do you live under a rock or something?"

"Amethyst!" Pearl scolded. "Don't be rude!"

"Am I supposed to know what you guys are?" Peridot frowned. "Gems, huh? Do you guys have anything to do with rocks?"

"Well," Pearl drawled, as if she didn't know how to answer her. "Technically, yes, but we're not related to the type of rock you would normally think of when you hear the word 'gem.' The one we are associated with is—."

"We're rockstars!" Steven chirped, interrupting Pearl's explanation before it went on any longer.

Lapis had to contain herself from bursting into laughter at how Pearl's face soured for a bit at the fact that she was cut off before she composed herself.

"Psht!" Amethyst leaned on Steven and pointed a finger gun towards Peridot once more. "Only the greatest rock band to ever grace the planet! Number one in the world, baby!"

She blew a bubble with her gum and winked simultaneously as the bubblegum popped. "And number one in your hearts!"

Peridot looked away to hide the creeping blush on her face.

Lapis took notice and scoffed. "But not number one in the thinking department."

"Wow!" Pearl rolled her eyes and sarcastically commented, "You're one to talk!"

"I'm just saying. You guys honestly thought it would be a good idea for all of you to come?" Lapis raised a brow, obviously amused at their sorry attempt to disguise themselves. "With all the paparazzi out to get the story?"

"And whose fault is that? I told you not to go meet the fans and it ended with you being chased down by them." Pearl harrumphed. "And there's power in numbers."

"We didn't know what to expect." Amethyst cracked her knuckles. "I was kinda hoping for a fight. I'm still on that adrenaline from that spontaneous mosh pit yesterday!"

"No we were not!" Pearl cried out, sending Peridot an apologetic look. "Steven here thought it would've been good for all of us to personally thank Peridot for taking care of Lapis' reckless behind."

As they continued their banter, Peridot blinked, unsure of what was happening in front of her.

They all stopped conversing and turned their attention to her. 

"So let me get this straight," Peridot knit her eyebrows together in confusion. She looked at Lapis. "You're in a band and the reason you were running from all those people yesterday before hitting my car was because they were you fans?"

Lapis gave a nervous laugh and looked away, rubbing the back of her head. "You got me."

"Huh," was all that Peridot could utter.

To say Peridot was surprised would not encapsulate her thoughts entirely.

She couldn't believe that she didn't realize it sooner, but then again, Peridot wasn't one to follow up with pop culture. The only time she was exposed to it was through her peers when they would talk during their break or through her best friend.

It actually explained a lot.

Lapis' attire, her hair color, her charismatic nature, and the fact that Peridot felt herself drawn to her. Celebrities and their power to attract people to them: that was the reason as to maybe why she found it so easy to talk to Lapis.

Lapis was a rockstar despite being the total opposite of what Peridot had always imagined rock stars to be.

Peridot began to blush, embarrassed that she had not treated Lapis like how she thought celebrities should have been treated.

"Holy smokes! You hit her car?!" Amethyst looked over at Lapis in glee, a wide toothy grin on her face and her hands on the top of her head.

Pearl and Steven looked at her in shock, eyes wide and mouths open. Garnet's reaction was hard to decipher through her dark sunglasses and neutral expression.

"Eh," Lapis shrugged and stated nonchalantly, "more like I ran into it."

“Awesome!” Amethyst gave a fist pump. “Even better!”

"That's not any better!" Pearl looked like she was ready to faint but her anger and disbelief were keeping her awake. "Are you hurt? Do we need to bring you to the hospital?!"

"Nah, I'm good." Lapis rolled her right shoulder a proof of her health. "I have a scratch on my leg but Peridot here patched me up. Other than that, I think I'm just bruised."

"Actually,” Peridot piped up, motioning to Pearl, “you might want to go get checked in case you have some internal bleeding."

Lapis paled. "What?"

"Oh my gosh! Is Lapis going to die?" Steven's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of its socket.

"No! Nobody is going to die!" Pearl shouted in exasperation. "But she’s right. We should at least get you checked. The only trouble we have would be trying to explain why you were banged up and bruised in the first place.”

"I can go with you to try and explain it all." Peridot had raised her hand earning amused looks from everybody in the room.

"No, it's okay. I'll just tell the truth but leave out your involvement." Lapis patted her on the shoulder. She ignored the eyebrow raise from Amethyst and Pearl. "I don't want to inconvenience you more than I have already."

“Well,” Garnet clapped her hands together, prompting the conversation to an end, “We should head out. We have rehearsal today for tomorrow night and we’re eating away on our lax time afterwards.”

Just then, there was a muffled series of honks coming in short bursts.

“That’s Greg,” Pearl nodded, herding Amethyst and Steven to the door. “We should go before we’re found out.”

Mysteriously, Garnet was already at by the door, preparing to open it.

“It was nice to meet you, Peridot!” Steven looked back and waved. “Hope to see you again.”

Amethyst gave a wordless two-finger salute and sauntered out the apartment.

“Thank you for having us.” Pearl gave a slight bow before shooting a look at Lapis and walked out.

Garnet simply nodded and crossed her arm and followed after the other four.

Lapis and Peridot strode to the door. Peridot held on to the door knob behind her and paused by the doorway as Lapis stepped out into the outside hall.

This was the first time she got to see the outside of the apartment. It reminded her of the road side motels the band had to stop by sometimes when they were on the road and were tired in staying in the RV. She took notice of the three flights of stairs that Peridot probably struggled in dragging her unconscious body and felt an uncomfortable stirring in her stomach.

They remained by the door in silence, simply staring at each other.

Eventually, the silence was broken by Peridot, "So."

"So," Lapis repeated after her.

Peridot snorted, "You could've honestly told me from the start."

"I know, but,” Lapis let out a breathy chuckle. “I don't know. Usually once people find out that I'm some celebrity, they start acting all weird and stuff."

Lapis rubbed the back of her neck and gained an interest at her feet. “But I see now that I was just being dumb to think you would be like that.”

"It honestly wouldn't have been a big deal to me. I live under a rock apparently." Peridot joked.

"Hah, yeah, sorry about Amethyst. She usually speaks without thinking. It's great though since she's always sincere and honest." Lapis raised her head and beamed. “And I’m glad you don’t seem fazed at the revelation at all.”

“Since I didn’t really have a clue as to what you guys are, to me you were just a group of,” Peridot paused to search for the right word, “interesting people.”

“Ha,” Lapis chuckled, “interesting wouldn’t be the word I would use to describe us.”

There was a prolonged honk from the street below.

"I guess that's my cue." Lapis gave a tiny wave. "Thanks for everything."

Peridot nodded. "You're welcome."

Lapis walked a few feet away from the door and Peridot was ready to close it behind her when Lapis suddenly turned around and walked back to her.

"Would it be fine if I got your number from Pearl? Is it okay if I keep talking to you?" Lapis paused and took a deep breath, making sure she was looking Peridot straight in the eyes. "Can I see you again?"

Peridot blinked and took a literal step back. She eyed the woman in front of her. Lapis’ tan skin slowly being colored by pink near her cheeks, her discomfort being made apparent with every second that passed.

At last, Peridot spoke.

"Sure."

Lapis' eyes widened and crinkled in glee. She nodded and gave a small smile, ready to go so she can express her delight by pumping her fists at the sky without Peridot seeing.

When Lapis was about to continue heading downstairs, Peridot's voice called out.

"And Lapis?"

Lapis looked at her nervously, her heart beating in her ears. "Y-yeah?"

Peridot may have seen her expression because she gave a soft smile. "That was four questions. We're even now."

Lapis gave a sigh before standing erect and smiling widely.

And, like how they met the other day, Lapis quickly turned and ran down towards the car, disappearing from her sight.


	4. Square One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello... It's been 80 years...! School still sucks. You guys are still awesome though!

The band was currently having their down time. Rehearsal went by smoothly and they managed to fix out all the kinks they found from their equipment.

Like after every show, the members were in a high. They kept grinning at each other as they made their way to the RV to clean up and snack on some munchies before deciding what to do for their break.

A balding man with his remaining long hair tied in a ponytail and a horrible sunburn approached the quintet and gave them two thumbs up. "Great performance out there! Play like that tomorrow and the crowd's gonna go wild!"

"Thanks, dad!" Steven grinned. He skipped to him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug.

"Oof!" The man grunted and managed to free one arm to pat the top of his son's head. "You've got one heck of a grip there, little man."

Steven giggled and released him. "I was _your_ roadie for a while after all."

"Greg!" Amethyst walked over and gave the man a fist bump. "Did you see what I did in the end? Pretty cool right? I'm sure people are going to riot over it in the end!"

"I wish you wouldn't do that for tomorrow's concert." Pearl scoffed and continued walking towards the RV prompting everyone else to follow. "You could break your drum set if you kick it down. You're lucky it didn't break just now or else you would have nothing to play for tomorrow."

"Killjoy." Amethyst said with a fake cough in an attempt to mask the word.

Lapis snickered and Garnet smiled.

Pearl came to a quick halt, twirled around, and stopped with the click of her heel to face Amethyst. Her eyebrows furrowed and her arms crossed.

"Uh-oh." Amethyst stopped in her tracks.

"Run." Lapis snorted.

She didn't need to be told. Amethyst made a dash for the RV. She arrived at the door and quickly opened it before rushing inside.

Everyone but Pearl burst into laughter.

Pearl huffed and stomped towards the RV, cheeks red.

Lapis composed herself and ran after Pearl, placing an arm across her shoulder. "Hey, cool off there, Pearly Shell."

Pearl moved her shoulder back to push off Lapis' arm but Lapis kept it there. Pearl grumbled, "I'm cool! And I told you not to call me that!"

Lapis chuckled, her hand gripping onto the side of Pearl's shoulder. "Yeah, you're pretty cool. And, nah, I know you like it."

"Whatever, Blue Pencil."

Lapis stopped walking, pulling Pearl back with her, and frowned. "Okay. I still don't believe you when you say my name means 'pencil' in your language."

Pearl laughed. "This is fun. I see now why you keep doing it."

Lapis smirked. "My, my, Birb Mom here's got some jokes!"

Lapis took her arm back from where it was positioned and ran to the RV to escape the wrath of Pearl she knew was coming.

* * *

Peridot currently sat at a table in the break room with her coworker. It was just the two of them. She had spent most of her break telling her coworker about the events that transpired the day before and in the morning.

"Yesterday on my way home back from the lab, I ran into someone."

"Holy crap, Per! Are they dead?! Was a hit and run?! Are you in trouble?!"

Peridot raised a hand to stop her coworker from asking any more questions. "Okay, let me clarify: a person ran into my car by the intersection at some alleyway downtown. They fainted and I brought them to my house to take care of any injuries."

"And you didn't bring to them to the hospital?! Why?!"

"Because they seemed like they didn't want anyone to know of their whereabouts. Turns out they were a celebrity of some rock band." Hearing it said out loud, Peridot could see how ridiculous she'd been.

She should've brought Lapis to the hospital.

"Rock band?"

"Yeah," Peridot tried to recall their name. "Something Gems."

"The Crystal Gems?!"

Peridot snapped her fingers and pointed at her. "Yeah! That's it! They came to my apartment this morning to pick up their member."

"You're pulling my leg here!"

"I'm serious, Jasper!" Peridot groaned, laying her head on her hands. "They really were in my apartment this morning."

"Hah, yeah sure. And I'm related to big foot!" Jasper guffawed.

Jasper was a tall and well built woman and her bleached hair that floofed and spiked made her all the more intimidating. Her eyes were amber brown but the contrast of the vitiligo of her skin made them look gold.

"It was a nice story though! You should write it into a book. Or into a fan fiction since we don't have that much time to spend on a book."

"Fan fiction? Of a band?" Peridot frowned and tapped on the table. "And it really happened! Why would I make up a story about them if I don't even know them?"

Jasper thought about for a moment and raised her brows. "That's true. But really? You run into a celebrity and then you bring her to your apartment to take care of her and then you meet THE greatest band to have ever existed? Sounds like a movie plot. Did you finally buy a D-V-D player or did you finally have guts to stream things?"

"I mean," Peridot muttered, "when you put it like that, it does seem far-fetched, but it really did happen! And correction, she ran into my car."

"Okay, okay," Jasper put her hands up in defeat and smirked, "I believe you. Somewhat."

"Well, it doesn't matter if you believe me or not, it happened. But, hey," Peridot tapped Jasper on her forearm, "don't go telling anyone."

"Sure thing. Even if I did, I doubt they'd believe me." Jasper chuckled. "Why'd you tell me?"

Peridot smiled and sat up straight. "You're my best friend, I can't hide anything from you."

"Oh?" Jasper raised a brow and grinned. "Best friend, huh?"

Peridot's smile transformed into a grimace. "You big jerk."

* * *

Lapis fiddled with her thumbs as she tried to settle her heart. It didn't help that Amethyst was currently drumming it out on everyday objects with Steven and her heartbeat coincided with the beat.

Greg walked in the RV and raised some contents in his hand. "Hey look, someone brought in your phone and wallet Lapis."

"Oh, good! I thought I had to replace everything." Lapis stood and got her wallet and phone from him. "Thanks, Greg."

"No prob, Bob."

Lapis walked over to the couch that was attached to the wall of the RV.

She looked through her wallet to see what was missing. All the cash that was in there was gone. At least all the cards were in there. She frowned when she saw that the small pictures she had were gone. She didn't like the thought of someone having pictures of her family and of her during her younger days.

At least when they surface online, they would be able to catch whoever had them in their possession.

She decided to look through phone next, surprised that it still had enough battery to turn on. The screen was cracked near the top but it was still functional and the damage seemed to pose no hindrance to use. Lapis sighed when she saw that her phone has been locked, an indication of someone trying to guess her password multiple times in an effort to look through her contents.

She'd call her phone provider later to unlock her phone.

With no phone to browse through, Lapis decided to make herself comfortable and closed her eyes to nap.

* * *

After what felt like a few minutes, she was awakened by a slight nudge. She opened her eyes and saw Pearl hovering above her.

Lapis yawned. "What?"

"Look." Pearl threw a newspaper at Lapis who was lounging on the couch.

Lapis looked down at her chest and saw the paper and frowned. "Who still reads the newspaper nowadays?"

"People," Pearl scoffed. She grabbed the newspaper and brought it up to Lapis' face. "And I'm talking about this."

Lapis looked at the newspaper content. There was a picture of her on the front page. "Oh, cool! I'm on the news."

"For goodness sake, Lapis, read the title!" Pearl groaned and shook the newspaper. "It says that you were caught leaving this motel room of some girl after spending the night. Strangely, they left out the part that we were also there and the fact that it was not a motel room. I suppose the tabloids arrived to the scene after we've already made our way inside the car."

Lapis tensed and sat up. "Where did you get this?"

"Anywhere that has a newspaper stand." Pearl cast the newspaper aside on the empty seat of the couch. "And do you know what this could mean? We don't need a scandal happening just when we're about to make it big."

"Nothing happened, you know that." Lapis hissed. "I did spend the night only because I got hit by her car and knocked out and Peridot helped me out."

"I know, but oh my stars," Pearl pinched the bridge of her nose, "that sounds worse than you actually spending the night over. Maybe don't say that when you get asked about it."

"You're right." Lapis leaned her back into the couch. "I should really fix the wording."

"Anyway, you should contact your friend and tell her what happened." Pearl picked up the newspaper and began rolling it up. "I'm sure a lot of people are going to flock to look for who she is and where she lives."

Lapis sprung up to her feet. "They can't do that! She didn't do anything but be helpful!"

Pearl shrugged. "Yeah, but you know how people get when their idols are involved."

"Amway," Pearl left the rolled up newspaper on the coffee table in front of the couch. "We're headed downtown to get dinner and sightsee. Greg wants us to be ready in an hour."

Lapis hummed a response. With that, Pearl nodded before she walked off to where Garnet was.

Once Pearl was gone, Lapis covered her face with her hands and fell back on to the couch. She groaned and brought her knees to her chest and curled into a ball.

If her stunt was on the newspaper that means it was for sure on the news and, unfortunately, the internet. She hoped that the information that was made public did not have any telling information that would help identify Peridot.

The last thing she wanted was for Peridot to be harassed.

Lapis uncovered her face and brought her attention to the rolled up paper in front of her. She unrolled it and stared at the picture.

The picture was of her from an angle that covered the person she was talking to and the number of the apartment. She was glad that the building looked like any generic looking motel and not an apartment complex. At least that would lead people to search motels rather than apartment complexes.

She carefully scanned the picture for anything that would give away the definite location of the place.

There were no numbers or letters on the picture. The view of the road showed no street signs or telling landmarks.

Lapis gave a sigh of relief. At least the only ones who seem to know where she stood were the ones who took the picture.

She should contact Peridot and warn her that the next couple days had a high possibility she might be approached by a lot of people.

Lapis looked at her phone and grumbled at the fact that it was locked.

She could use the other member's phones but she doubt they would let her use their phone and the only person to have Peridot's number was Pearl.

She could always go back to her apartment and tell in person, but the last thing she should be doing is to go see Peridot.

But she wanted to see her again.

* * *

The next day, Peridot was awakened by the sound of someone knocking on her door.

She groggily rolled out of bed and trudged towards the door, not registering that she was not decent to receive guests in her crazily wrinkled over-sized pajamas and her hair a mess of tangles.

She yawned as she removed the deadbolt and unlocked the door before swinging it open.

She hissed at the light that made its way in her apartment. She forgot to grab her glasses and her vision was blurred. "Hello? How can I help you?"

A blob of dark bottoms and a navy blue top stood before her. 

Before she got a good look at whoever it was, the person moved forward and cover her mouth with a hand and shuffled inside.

She gave a muffled cry. She was certainly awake now. Peridot's heart pounded. Who is this person and why have they intruded? Was she going to be kidnapped?

The door closed and she was ready to fight the intruder when the person removed something from their head. Peridot heard a muffled thump as something feel on the floor.

She was ready to bite down on the hand and swing a punch when the person uncovered her mouth and took a step back from her.

"Good morning!" Her visitor chirped. "Did you just wake up?"

She didn't need to ask who it was now that she heard them speak, and, judging from the cerulean color where she assumed their head would be, it could only be one person.

"Yes. I worked late yesterday." Another yawn escaped her lips. "What brings you here so early in the morning, Lapis Lazuli?"

Peridot saw the blob get closer to the point where her eyes were able to focus and see more details.

It was then that she saw the familiar blue of Lapis' eyes dangerously close to her face.

They wrinkled at the corner as she grinned.

"Want to see me do my thing?"


End file.
